


And They Were Roommates

by cc tinslebee (Doitlikeagreaser)



Series: Polarize [3]
Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Backstory, Developing Relationship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Past Abuse, Implied/Referenced Racism, M/M, Minor Demetri/Eli, Post-Season/Series 03, References to The Outsiders, Scars, Trust is a balancing act
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29526654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doitlikeagreaser/pseuds/cc%20tinslebee
Summary: Moving in with Shawn Payne -- the boy who had tormented Robby incessantly in juvie -- was, admittedly, maybe not the best idea. He had no way of knowing that when the walls of Sylmar Juvenile Corrections no longer restrained them, Shawn wasn't that bad of a guy.As they grow closer and learn more about each other, Robby finds himself able to breathe just a little bit easier for the first time in a very long time.
Relationships: Robby Keene & Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Robby Keene & Shawn Payne, Robby Keene/Shawn Payne
Series: Polarize [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155227
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	And They Were Roommates

"Hey, Shawn. Can we talk?"

After giving Robby a long, hard stare, Shawn unlatched the door and stepped aside. "I didn't think you were gonna show."

"Me neither," Robby admitted, mindfully stepping inside. It was a small, bland apartment with not much to it; the living room had a couch, a well-loved recliner, a television, and two small tables sporting a few magazines and bottles of water. 

"So what brings you by?"

Robby had only meant to tell him the basics of all that had happened. _"Long story short, a war criminal is taking over the Valley by militarizing kids, and I had to leave. My mom's in rehab, and you already know that my dad doesn't care. I need a place to crash. I'll be out of your hair as soon as its safe,"_ he had obsessively rehearsed.

It was just as much of a shock to Shawn as it was to himself when he ended up spilling his guts to the primary person who made his life a living hell back at Sylmar. He told him about Johnny and Daniel, how they abandoned him time and time again, and still had the nerve to act as though they cared; told him about turning to Kreese as a final resort. He told him about Hawk, how he tore him down to his bare essentials and beat him at Miyagi-Do; how he realised that Cobra Kai wasn't the safest place for him after all.

Hell, he hadn't even told Hawk the extent of that.

"That's... wow. That's fucked up," is all Shawn could manage, and Robby nodded. It took him a moment to register that Shawn had moved to the couch, whereas he was now sitting on the recliner. "So, what are you doing here?"

Robby shrugged, "You sent me your address. I guess I just wanted to find out why."

"After what happened at the soup kitchen with that musty white guy, I had a feeling you wouldn't have a place to go when you got out. Then you took me down when I was beating on you and, well..."

A silence hung in the air as Shawn trailed off. The air felt icy around them as they looked at each other for the first time without disdain, though it wasn't entirely friendly either. There was a stiff understanding between them that went unsaid.

Shawn rose abruptly, and Robby disguised a sharp flinch by bringing his hand to rub at the back of his neck.

Not paying any mind to the peculiar movement, Shawn gestured to the couch behind him before walking over to the kitchen without a second thought. "The sofa's a pullout. I'm sure it's a lot more comfortable than whatever the hell you've been sleeping on for the past couple of months."

Robby's eyes flickered up just in time to catch Shawn through the pass-through window between the two rooms.

"Do you like Chinese food?" Shawn continued, reaching for the landline.

"Uh, yeah," Robby replied, trying his best to keep his voice from sounding too meek, which proved to be a difficult feat after keeping it dormant for long.

Shawn only nodded as he pulled the phone up to his ear.

Okay, so they were doing this.

* * *

Robby leaned against a pillar, standing patiently in wait. Hurried people passed by him, paying him no mind as they continued living their busy lives.

After hearing about his admittedly questionable experience in an electronics repair shop, Shawn had hooked him up with a job at a small tech company. Robby had surprised himself with how much he knew about the technology they had. The scanty strip mall tech store hired him immediately, turning a blind eye to whatever rumours were making their way around about their newest employee. What could they say? The kid knew his stuff.

He could see why Shawn liked working in this strip mall. It was outside the city limits, far away from the chaos of San Fernando Valley. They seemed lenient on troubled kids landing jobs here too. Robby worked there for over a week without any trouble, and Shawn had landed two part-time jobs in the area.

There was only one downside to this otherwise ideal situation. Robby got off from work before Shawn's shift at the nearby fast-food restaurant ended, so he had to loiter around for another half an hour.

He scanned the parking lot, observing the variety of abandoned shopping carts and an unsettling amount of crookedly parked cars that littered it. His attention slipped from Shawn's car as soon as he caught a glimpse of something black and slim out of the corner of his eyes.

A motorcycle. Huh. It had been a while since he'd seen one of those. That's--

"--a pretty sweet ride, huh?" the sound of Shawn's voice broke through his thoughts. He came up from behind him, clapping a hand on Robby's back.

Robby wasn't quick enough to hide the flinch, instinctively shifting away from his touch as if it burned him.

Shawn gave him a confused look but didn't say a word on the matter. "Let's get out of here," he wandered over to his car, "I'm _starving."_

A relative, tense silence hung over them for the majority of the car ride. Shawn asked him how work went and if he was interested in Italian for dinner, earning curt responses from Robby.

Robby swayed as Shawn pulled the steering wheel to the left. "I'm not going to hurt you. You know that, right?"

"I know."

He didn't.

Because for Robby Keene, the threat of violence loomed over him like a persistent, dark cloud. In the two weeks he lived with Shawn, he had not once been berated, assaulted, or otherwise mistreated, not as he had been in Sylmar. In fact, other than some light teasing that perhaps neither of them had earned, Shawn had been respectful to him as if the solidarity from not narcing on one another had extended out here.

He still couldn't shake the feeling that the trust between them was as easily breakable as the truce between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Fang. No one expected that to exceed the upcoming tournament, and it was questionable that it would even make it to that date. What was stopping Shawn and Robby from being one misstep away from being at each other's throats?

"Keene?"

Robby looked up abruptly, noticing they had stopped. 

"You want the same thing as last time? You mentioned you liked it," Shawn cupped his hand over the speaker of his phone. Right, he must be on the phone with that Italian restaurant they got food from last week.

"Yeah, that sounds good, thanks." Shawn's remark was an understatement. He hadn't had Italian food that good since he was living with the LaRussos. God, that felt like forever ago.

He was surprised Shawn remembered.

Shawn nodded and returned to the call.

They picked up their dinner and ate in the living room that night. Robby curled up on the couch, taking comfort in the curve of the sofa and the familiarity of his food. Shawn seated himself on the recliner, turning the television on to _The Terminator._ Admittedly a classic. Besides, fictionalised versions of the things Robby preferred out of his own life were a welcomed change.

An hour into the film, Shawn offered to take Robby's empty food container, deliberately ensuring that his hand would not bump into Robby's as he passed it over. On a whim, Robby brushed his fingers against Shawn's as he released the container from his grip, a silent reassurance.

Shawn watched him for a moment after, an embarrassed feeling flooding over Robby at the foolish gesture. As soon as it arose, the feeling washed away as Shawn nodded before taking the containers away to the kitchen.

After the movie had ended and Shawn had retired for the night, Robby quietly made his way to the kitchen.

In their short time together, Robby had discovered that Shawn was the type of person who tried to make do with the bare essentials, but sometimes things would slip his mind here and there. Dishes sometimes went unwashed, and bottles of water tended to linger for longer than necessary. Work often preoccupied his mind, so he easily overlooked the smaller things.

Which was surprisingly perfect for Robby; he had always been the responsible presence in a home. He had no problem compensating for his mother's forgetfulness when she was around, at least until it had become a problem. Shawn was shocking easily to manage compared to her.

So it wasn't too much of a bother to rinse the dishes before he went to sleep.

_"Really. It's the least I can do."_

* * *

Robby groggily opened his eyes, letting out a long yawn as he forced him up from the pullout. Peering through the pass-through, Shawn was at the kitchen table as anticipated, most likely having been awake for hours. What he didn't expect to see was three unfamiliar figures in there with him.

The one sitting across the table from Shawn looked like a younger version of his roommate; he had the same shade of skin, the same posture, the only difference being the tightly braided hair that fell over the corners of his forehead. Behind him stood two boys, a ginger-haired kid who slouched slightly and an exhausted-looking Asian boy. They almost -- _almost_ \-- reminded him of Chris, Lil Red, and Nathaniel if he thought about it too hard; that is, if the Miyagi trio were a bunch of middle schoolers and _not_ within one year of each other's ages.

Shawn caught his eyes. "'Morning, Keene," he greeted, reaching behind him to grab the cereal box off the counter. 

They had made a habit of Shawn leaving the cereal out for Robby in the morning. He always returned the milk to the refrigerator, though. _"I'm not a monster, Keene,"_ Shawn had joked once.

"'Morning," Robby took the box from Shawn, heading over to the refrigerator. "Who're these guys?"

"This is my brother, Lloyd, and his idiot friends," Shawn explained jestingly. Robby heard the _thump_ of the middle schooler kicking Shawn's shin underneath the table.

Robby nodded, screwing the top back on the milk. "Alright. I'll eat in the living room, keep out of your hair."

"Do you mind if the dumbasses join you?" Shawn asked, earning him another intemperate kick. "I gotta talk to Lloyd about something."

"Sure," Robby nodded, wandering back into the living room. He reverted the pullout into the couch before settling down on the recliner. Lloyd's friends promptly sat down on the sofa.

"So..." the ginger started cautiously, "How'dya know Shawn?"

Robby eyed him uncomfortably, refocusing on his breakfast. "I met him in juvie."

"Woah, really?" the kid gaped, his friend rolling his eyes. "What were you in for?"

"You're an idiot, Lane," his friend chastised, "that's the guy who knocked that kid over a railing."

Lane's jaw dropped, "Is that true?"

Robby shrugged, rolling his shoulders back in discomfort. He really wasn't in the mood to think about that. He had yet to talk to Miguel, but that most likely would not happen for a long time. They still needed to rid the Valley of Kreese, and that man was like an unremovable stain. Try as they might, he always came back.

Lane's friend seemed less than impressed. "I'm surprised Shawn's letting you stay with him. You know what they say about white guys in prison."

"What do they say, Mike?" Lane asked, genuinely unaware.

Mike groaned, "That the white guy actually did it. God, Lane, you're such an idiot."

Robby's mind flickered to Anthony LaRusso, and he grimaced. He did _not_ miss being around middle schoolers.

Wait a second.

"What did you say?" Robby inquired, and Mike looked like he was on the verge of slapping someone. "Did Shawn-- Why was he in there?"

It only now occurred to him that in all their time together, Shawn had never said.

Robby had told him everything about the past two years, and yet, he found himself not knowing a single thing about Shawn.

"Shawn didn't do anything wrong," Mike defended, resorting to a scoff. A dark expression quickly dawned upon him -- a look that, really, a kid should never have to make -- and he conscientiously lowered his voice to a whisper. "They profiled him, you know."

Robby's face softened in shock.

Mike leaned back, still keeping his voice quiet, "Not a huge surprise, though. Looking like Shawn in this goddamn country, it was more of a shock that it took them that long to throw him under the bus for something."

Robby fell quiet, only nodding in acknowledgement.

Mike opened his mouth as if to say more before he immediately snapped it shut as Shawn entered. 

Shawn patted his brother's shoulder, "Say hi to Ma for me, will you?"

Llyod nodded and silently gestured to his boys. Mike followed him without a second thought, and Lane nodded curtly to Robby before scampering after them.

"They didn't bother you too much, did they?" Shawn plopped down on the middle of the couch.

Robby quietly shook his head, wringing his hands anxiously. After a moment of careful contemplation, he blurted out, "Shawn, why don't you live with your brother?"

Shawn was silent for a moment, and Robby feared he had struck a nerve that would strike him right back.

Instead, he only mumbled, "I'm doing what's best for my family. And what's best for them is for me to be here."

So that was it. With Shawn's record, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that his presence would put his family in jeopardy. He didn't want them to have to see the inevitable moment he would get hurt again.

"Sort of like what my mom did for me," Robby thought out loud.

As much as he wanted her to stay, he knew she needed to get help. He would like to think that she realised if she continued down that path, there was a chance that he would eventually find her beyond repair, forcing him to live with the aftermath.

Shawn nodded, "Yeah, kind of like that." He watched Robby thoughtfully, seemingly picking up on some anxiousness emitting off of him. "Those little twerps told you, didn't they?"

"Not everything," Robby assured him earnestly. In a bout of courage, he continued, "Shawn, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"You were innocent," Robby affirmed, his voice slow and treading lightly, "so how did you turn into the person that _I_ met? The one who held himself like he wasn't?"

"I was in there for longer than you were, Keene," Shawn answered gruffly, though his face softened. _"You_ quickly learned that if you didn't toughen up, chances are you would've left that place in a body bag."

Robby gulped at the morbidity but nodded. To prove to everyone else in Sylmar, he had to stand his ground against Shawn. It made sense that Shawn had learned to strike before anyone else to demonstrate that he was a force to be reckoned with; the best way to differ other inmates from bothering you was to assert your strength before the thought even crossed their minds.

"That all you wanted to ask?" Shawn stood up. "Do you have work today?"

Robby shook his head, "That's all. And I've got schoolwork to do."

Shawn snorted in levity. "Figures. Well, I'll leave the academic to his boredom then," he grabbed his keys, grinning to himself. "Just call me if you need anything."

Robby smiled despite himself. "Will do, Shawn."

* * *

A crash in the night mercilessly tore Robby from his sleep. He peered at the illuminating digital clock and silently groaned; not even Shawn had the nerve to wake him up at three in the goddamn morning, so what the hell was going on?

He attempted to shift quietly from his bed, earning a creak beneath him that made his blood run cold. The dismay eased away as soon as he heard the patter of footsteps continue in the kitchen unbothered. He cautiously continued making his way to Shawn's room.

It wasn't a place he found himself in often, but considering the circumstances, he doubted Shawn would mind. 

Shawn was already standing beside his bed when Robby slinked in. Robby opened his mouth to question what was happening when he noticed the silk-wrap over Shawn's hair.

"What's on your head?" Robby asked instead, a smile tugging at his lips.

"None of your damn business," Shawn snapped, tiredness removing any bite from it. "What's going on out there?"

"I think someone broke in?" Robby uncertainly answered as he heard something clammered onto the floor. "Should we call 911?"

Shawn gaped at him, eyebrows knitted. "Yeah, Keene, call the cops on the house with no legal guardian, two minors with a criminal record, one of which is Black. That's a great idea," he chastised sarcastically. "Don't you know karate?"

"Yeah, but it's only for self defense," Robby whispered.

"Defending our home from an intruder _is_ self-defense, moron!" Shawn argued, his voice low.

"Alright, alright! We'll go out there together. We should outnumber whoever's there."

Shawn nodded in response. With their guards at the ready, they carefully exited through the attached bathroom. At the front, Robby readied a mean hook kick to attack their assailant but stopped abruptly, causing Shawn to bump into his back.

"Why the hell did you stop?" he hissed.

"It's a cat."

"What?"

"It's a fucking cat, Shawn."

Low and behold, there was a short-haired cat on the kitchen counter. Moonlight shone down on him, revealing blond fur speckled with brown and sweet brown eyes peering up at Robby. The Tupperware container Shawn had left out that night was on the floor in front of them, a broken dish only a few feet away.

Robby moved closer to the cat, cupping his soft cheeks in search of a collar. Nothing.

Shawn moved passed him, kneeling to inspect the door. "He made it through the hole in the screen."

"I told you that we should've had that fixed," Robby remarked, rubbing the cat's chin, who graciously accepted the affection. "He doesn't have a collar."

Shawn looked at him strangely. "We're not keeping him."

"Why not? You said it yourself that a lot of people in this area abandon their pets. He needs a home," Robby argued.

"I'm more of a dog person."

"So am I."

Their eyes met, determination reflecting off of both of them. Moments of minor conflict like this usually ended in a stalemate, but they both knew they couldn't get away with that now.

Finally, Shawn sighed, "Fine. But he's _your_ responsibility."

"Fine by me." Robby turned back to the cat with a grin, scratching the top of his head. "I'll take good care of you, Sodapop."

"Sodapop?" Shawn raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know, like _The Outsiders?_ About that gang in the sixties? It was required reading in the eighth grade."

"Of course you'd pay attention to that shit," Shawn jested, good-humouredly. "Alright, good ol' Soda's staying with you tonight. I'm going to bed. 'Night, Keene."

"'Night, Shawn." Robby barricaded the screen door in anticipation of another unexpected visitor before scooping up Sodapop. "Come on, Soda, let's get some sleep."

* * *

Hunched over his laptop, Robby worked away at the kitchen table, peering over to the counter to check the time. Had it really gotten that late since the last time he checked?

The light above him flickered as Shawn stepped into view with a towel wrapped around his waist. As he opened the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water as per his weekly ritual, Robby couldn't help but eye the scar near his collarbone. 

It wasn't incredibly noticeable under most circumstances and could easily be mistaken for a trick of the light, but it was practically on display now, making its existence indisputable. When Shawn turned around to return to his room, Robby saw that it didn't stop there. It was an odd-looking thing, curling over his shoulder and onto part of his back.

"Where did you get it?" Robby blurted out before he could stop himself. 

"What?"

"The scar. I thought you'd for sure want to tell everyone back in Sylmar how you got it. Conquests and all. But you never did."

 _Shut_ up, _Keene._

He was sure that was it. That would be the final straw that would get him kicked out, beat, or something remarkably worse.

But Shawn just pulled out the seat opposite of him and sat down calmly. "It wasn't a conquest," he corrected, sternly, but not overbearingly so. "I got into an accident. I was on my way to get my car inspected when some idiot slammed into me. The next thing I know, fire's spreading through my car and _fast._ I just barely managed to get out when something must've snapped because as I'm running away, something lashes at my shoulder and sears into it.

"To make matters worse, the asshole fled the scene. He left his car there and everything."

Robby's lips pressed into a thin line, "That's... shit. That's fucking awful."

Had that been the reason Shawn ended up in juvie? Did he stay long enough for the cops to arrive and assign him the blame? Did the guy that caused the accident throw him under the bus as soon as they identified his car?

What kind of coward blames a child for their own shitty driving? What kind of coward just runs away from the mess they made--

_(He had run, hadn't he?)_

The sound of Shawn's voice snapped him back.

"Yeah, but it's whatever, man. It doesn't matter; it's not like I'll ever see that prick again," he dismissed. He nodded over to Robby's company laptop, eager to change the subject, "Still doing schoolwork?"

Robby yawned, despite himself, "Yeah."

"You should probably go to bed."

"Nah, I'm almost done anyway."

"What, are you trying to graduate by May?"

It sounded nice. It wasn't like he could ever show his face at West Valley High again. The Cobras were slithering around every inch of that place, bloodthirsty and recently betrayed, and he was barely on good terms with the Miyagi-Dos. Finishing his education online was an ideal situation. 

Maybe he could even further it at one point, give Shawn and him a better chance at a more decent income.

Robby merely shrugged, letting out another yawn. "The sooner I finish, the more time I can spend pullin' my weight in payin' the bills."

Shawn amusedly shook his head. "Alright, that's it," Shawn stood up and wandered over to the other side of the table.

Robby raised an eyebrow at him one moment, and the next, he was being lifted out of his chair with ease. "Hey, wait--!" he protested.

Shawn didn't even blink an eye as he brought him over to the living room, practically tossing him on the pullout. He picked up Sodapop from the floor and plopped him down on Robby. 

Sodapop curled up on Robby's hip, stretching his chin expectantly out to Shawn.

Shawn complied, scratching the cat's chin. "You need to rest."

"You're so determined. I'm surprised you didn't throw me onto your bed," Robby quipped, fighting back another yawn.

"You wish, Romeo."

Maybe it was the sleep tugging at his eyes or a trick of the moonlight filtering through the window. But to Robby, it appeared as though Shawn Payne was smiling down on him with uncharacteristic softness.

He was probably just tired.

Shawn patted Sodapop on the head one last time before he began to head to his own room. "'Night, Robby."

"Goodnight, Shawn."

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock._

Robby gave Shawn a confused look as he stood up from the kitchen table and approached the door. "You're not expecting one of your buddies today, are you?"

"No?" Shawn called over, equally as bewildered.

"Hm." Robby unlocked the door, keeping the latch on. "Can we help -- _you."_

Hawk grinned, almost condescendingly, but with a friendliness that they hadn't quite merited.

"What the hell, man? I told you not to follow me." The corners of Robby's mouth tugged downwards.

"It's kind of hard to ignore you when you're working at a tech company in the same strip mall as _my_ grocery store," Hawk challenged, that cocky grin still on his face. "Are you going to let me in?"

Robby's frown deepened. Maybe it would have done him some good to remember Tory talking about Hawk's out-of-town job. Whatever. It was too late now. At least Hawk had the decency to dress down. The light grey hoodie he had pulled over his head was a drastic change from his usual colour coordinated style. His attention shifted to Hawk's most prominent feature: the colourful display of hair, his pride and joy, was worn down today. That was new.

(An afterthought occurred that Demetri probably would have enjoyed the sight. He complained about the spikes so often that it was difficult to forget. He thought about it again and realised maybe he already had, considering how intimate they seemed the last time he saw them.)

Robby huffed, unlatching the door, "Yeah, whatever."

Hawk stepped into their residence and locked eyes with Shawn. "Who's this guy?" they both asked Robby.

"This is my roommate," Robby replied. "Shawn, this is Hawk."

"This the guy--?"

"Yeah." Robby retreated tiredly to the couch, weakly gesturing for Hawk to follow.

Hawk started to make his way to the recliner when a firm hand stopped him in his tracks, meeting Shawn's icy glare as soon as he looked up.

"If you so much as touch him, I'll send your scrawny ass into next week, you hear?"

Hawk swallowed harshly and nodded feverishly. He tensed up on the spot, almost as if to take up as little room as possible. It was far from a Hawk thing to do and something, Robby inferred from eyeing him, that he would definitely confide in Demetri about later.

"Ease up there, Hawk," Robby gestured to the chair a little more insistently. 

Hawk's eyes darted down as he made his way over, almost in relief. When he wasn't looking, Robby mouthed a quick "thanks" to Shawn. 

Hawk's gaze scoured around the room, his confidence gradually replenishing as soon as Shawn left for the kitchen. "Demetri would have an aneurism if he saw this place," he mindlessly remarked.

"Yeah, well, Demetri would also have an aneurism if he found out that two former juvenile felons were living together. But he's not, right, Hawk?"

Hawk nodded in agreement, unthreatened by Robby's tone.

Sodapop rubbed up against Hawk's legs, leaning into the chin scratch he earned from their visitor. Hawk smiled affectionately at the small cat. Figures he would be a cat person; he liked Demetri after all, and their personalities were similar enough.

"So... what made you come and visit?" Robby inquired, causing Hawk to look up from the cat.

"Just wanted to check on you, that's all," Hawk shrugged earnestly. "Demetri will never know about this, I promise, but he's been driving himself crazy worrying about you. Everyone has. I figured since I've unintentionally seen you around the strip mall, I might as well see for myself. I figured could bullshit reassurances to the others as soon as I knew you _were_ okay."

It was a nice sentiment, but Robby clicked his tongue anyway. "Not a good look, Hawk, lying to your boy."

Hawk barely had the energy to feign disagreement. "I know," he looked down. "You probably want to know how things are back home, though, right?"

Hawk seemed to pick up on how that peaked his interests, so he continued.

"Things aren't much better since you left. Kreese has stayed away from Miyagi-Do, but he sent Tory to bother Miguel about you," Hawk explained, shaking his head. "The only thing keeping her from going off the hinges is Aisha's return. She's not with either of the dojos now. Her folks and she don't want to be a part of the conflict, so she's entering the tournament unaffiliated like you did."

"Good for her," Robby nodded.

"Sam's doing all right, and our senseis are doing about as well as you'd expect. Demetri's amazing, you know, aside from the worrying himself to death th--" Robby eyed him, not really wanting to hear about Hawk's insight on Demetri, "--that's all you want to know, right?"

"What about Kylar?" Robby inquired. "Is he abiding by the truce?"

Hawk huffed, "As much as that asshole knows how. He still taunts and badgers us, which is _basically_ breaking the agreement. I had to stop Demetri from kicking his teeth in when he started harassing Bert -- not that I _wanted_ to stop him after the prick threw Bert into a window."

Robby nodded again.

Hawk patted Sodapop's side before he rose from the recliner. "I should probably leave you to it. I've got to get to practice anyway." Robby gave no objections as he made his way to the front door, turning around as his hand grasped the doorknob. "And, for what it's worth, Robby, I'm glad you're doing well. I don't think I would have been as smart as you if the roles were reversed."

"Don't mention it."

A silent 'thank you' hung in the air, both parties too prideful to say it out loud and too stubborn to acknowledge it.

"Look out for Demetri, okay?" Robby said instead.

Something shifted in Hawk's expression like Robby had given him his blessing. A genuine smile crept onto his face, "Yeah."

Shawn started back into the living room as soon as the door clicked into place. "That was... weird."

"Yeah, no, it totally was," Robby agreed, flopping back onto the reverted couch.

"I shouldn't expect any more karate weirdos to show up unannounced, should I?" Shawn inquired, sitting himself down next to Robby.

"Nah, Hawk won't tell," Robby promised. He offered a lopsided grin, "And if he does, you can always get 'em for me," he jested, lightly punching Shawn's chest.

Shawn laughed, and Robby's chest fluttered with just how nice it sounded. "Yeah?"

"Sure," Robby chuckled in response. "I don't think it will come to that, though."

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! Kudos are really appreciated, as are comments! Please be respectful though!  
> I hope you all are doing well, and if you're not, I hope you feel better soon! Remember to take it easy! <3


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